collaborative course development educause southeast regional conference 2002 libby v. morris,...
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Collaborative Course DevelopmentEducause Southeast Regional Conference 2002
Libby V. Morris, Associate Professor, UGA
Wendy Bedwell, Project Coordinator, USG
Haixia Xu, Graduate Student, UGA
Collaborative Course DevelopmentEducause Southeast Regional Conference 2002
Copyright [L. Morris, W. Bedwell, H. Xu] [2002]. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
What Is eCore? Electronically-delivered core
curriculum, completing the first two years of an undergraduate degree
Developed by USG faculty, designers & programmers
Taught by USG faculty Offered by USG institutions
eCore Target Audience Non-Traditional Students
Full/Part-time Employees Parents/Caregivers Delayed or Returning Undergraduates Rural Populations
Anytime/Anywhere Curriculum Delivery
eCore Standards Consistent “Look & Feel” ADA & Interoperability Standards Pedagogical Standards Interactivity Multiple Learning Styles Helpdesk Support
eCore Course Environment WebCT 3.1.3
Web-based, HTML Format Flexible Course Management System Variety of Built-in Instructional Tools Detailed Student Tracking Function Constantly Evolving Delivery System 33 USG Institutions Use WebCT
http://webct.com
Purpose
To better understand collaborative course
development and implementation process
for electronically delivered courses.
The Course Development Team Development Teams
Faculty Disciplinary Experts Advanced Learning Technologies
(ALT) Project Coordinator Web Instructional Development
(WebID)
5 step process Preparation Planning Development Review Implementation
Course Development Process
Course Development Process Preparation
Contacting team members Setting up project website
Course Development Process Planning
2-day face-to-face team meeting Write course objectives Set up course structure Develop topic outline Set up lesson structure
Course Development Process Development
Write content Instructional design Rapid prototyping (programming) Usability testing of content All done online in project website
Course Development Process Review
Editing content Revising content/structure Partially done in project site, but
mostly accomplished in another face-to-face meeting
Course Development Process Implementation
Uploading the completed course to the system server
Research Questions What was the faculty member’s
motivation for getting involved in this process?
How do faculty perceive their roles and the involvement of instructional designers in the process?
How do project coordinators conceptualize and implement their roles?
Research Questions How do faculty describe the
collaboration among the team?
How effective was the organizational process (i.e., face-to-face meetings, online worksite, developing courses) for this collaboration?
What are the challenges of the process?
Research Questions How would they compare
collaborative course development with individual course development?
What are the benefits of this experience?
What was their overall experience?
Research Design Observation of Planning Stage for
World Literature I Observation of online course
development for World Literature I Face-to-face interview of course
developers Faculty members (n=10) Instructional designers (n=5) WebID (n=5)
IRB Approval (February 15, 2002)
Motivations Values (Intrinsic)
Interested in providing access to a broader population
Believe in distance learning Skeptical of online instruction
Technology (Extrinsic) The opportunity to include multimedia
Professional (Extrinsic) Consider it a faculty development
opportunity Push from institution
Role of Faculty Disciplinary Expert Course Structure Instructional Activities Assessment Activities Congruent
Faculty Composition Necessary characteristics of
faculty in the process Flexible: willing to adjust and
compromise Sufficient time A level of technology sophistication Being skeptical of distance learning is
not necessarily a bad thing
Role of ALT Staff Instructional designer is central Three roles
Group Facilitator/Moderator Resolve Conflicts or Concerns
Instructional Design Expert Clarify Content & Suggest Alternate
Approaches Recommend Multimedia Strategies
Project Coordinator Schedule Meetings/Set Timelines Ensure Project meets assigned deadlines
Collaboration Faculty interact with each other,
but not as much as expected Workload/Time commitment Eager for peer review Status issues
Project Coordinators (ALT) work well with faculty Different conception of model may lead
to potential conflict Issue of disciplinary background Status issues
Organization 3 facets: face-to-face
meetings, online collaboration, and developing course Works well and is essential Influences interaction among faculty 4 is considered a good number Consider mixed composition a plus Alternative: Summer project
Challenges Faculty
Perception of staging of final product Willingness to make changes
throughout process Project Coordinators (ALT)
Deadlines Difficult to hold faculty accountable
Quality of courses No piloting Impact of teaching faculty on course The more content, the better
Collaborative v. Individual Course Development
Dimensions Collaborative
Individual
Source of Pressure
Peer Students
ContentNegotiated Flexible
More Inclusive More Idiosyncratic
Workload Intensive Variable
Target Audience
Across the System
Within Single Campus
Structure Consistent Less Consistent
Benefits to Faculty Reconsideration of course
development
Reconsideration of teaching
Faculty Development
Future Directions: Components Comparison of Collaborative
Course Development with Individual Course Development Purpose and Objectives Content Learners Instructional Resources Sequence Instructional Process Evaluation
ALT & IHE http://alt.usg.edu
Wendy Bedwell: [email protected]
http://www.uga.edu/ihe Dr. Libby Morris: [email protected] Haixia Xu: [email protected]